# Apollo API + MCP vs People Data Labs

> People Data Labs and Apollo API + MCP score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 64.2 (B) and 63.3 (B). Apollo API + MCP leads on schema & documentation, security & auth and transparency & trust. Both do lead search. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes…

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apollo-vs-people-data-labs
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apollo-vs-people-data-labs.md (~2,450 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apollo-vs-people-data-labs.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apollo-vs-people-data-labs.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-09

People Data Labs and Apollo API + MCP score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 64.2 (B) and 63.3 (B). Apollo API + MCP leads on schema & documentation, security & auth and transparency & trust. Both do lead search.

- Apollo API + MCP: grade B, 63.3/100, rank #361 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/apollo.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/apollo.json
- People Data Labs: grade B, 64.2/100, rank #326 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/people-data-labs.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/people-data-labs.json

## Which one, for what

### Apollo API + MCP (B)

Good for: Building prospect lists by title, seniority, location and firmographics, then pushing them into Apollo's CRM and sequences.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 87 against 70
- Security & auth, 60 against 43
- Transparency & trust, 72 against 67

Watch for: Headless MCP use needs a master key that reaches every endpoint

### People Data Labs (B)

Good for: Products and pipelines that enrich or search person and company records at volume and can write Elasticsearch or SQL queries.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 78 against 65
- Agent ergonomics, 77 against 65
- Payments & pricing, 35 against 30
- Maintenance & community, 79 against 58

Watch for: No OpenAPI file was found. The machine-readable material is a Postman collection and Elasticsearch mappings


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Apollo API + MCP | People Data Labs | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 65 | 78 | People Data Labs +13 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 87 | 70 | Apollo API + MCP +17 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 65 | 77 | People Data Labs +12 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 60 | 43 | Apollo API + MCP +17 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 35 | People Data Labs +5 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 58 | 79 | People Data Labs +21 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 72 | 67 | Apollo API + MCP +5 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **63.3 · B** | **64.2 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Apollo API + MCP | People Data Labs |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Apollo.io | People Data Labs, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.apollo.io/api/v1` | `https://api.peopledatalabs.com/v5` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | none | Proprietary service under the Services Subscription Agreement. The Python and JavaScript SDKs are MIT |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | `io.github.apolloio/apollo-mcp` | not listed |
| Last release | none | 2026-09-16 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-08-10 | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-08-10 | couldn't be read |
| Customer content may train models | yes | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | couldn't be read |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | couldn't be read |
| Popularity | 25 stars | 40 stars, 133k npm/wk, 30k PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 2.5/5 (2) | none |

## Verdicts

**Apollo API + MCP.** People search costs 0 credits, up to 100 records a page and 50,000 a query. Headless MCP use needs a master key that reaches every endpoint.

**People Data Labs.** Monthly dated release notes, a free sandbox with synthetic data, response headers that report credits and rate limits, and a free plan of 100 records a month make the API easy to start with. No OpenAPI file was found, keys carry no scopes and may travel in the URL, and the agreement allows changes without notice.

## Before you call either

### Apollo API + MCP

1. Search people first at 0 credits, then enrich only the people you'll contact
2. Branch on `error_details.code` and wait `retry_after_seconds` from the suggestions after a 429
3. Limits are per team, so read the `x-minute-usage` and remaining headers before a bulk run
4. Use a scoped key with only the endpoints the job needs. A master key reaches everything
5. Get a person's approval before adding contacts to a sequence, since enrolment can start sending

### People Data Labs

1. Send the key in the `X-Api-Key` header. The `api_key` query parameter puts the secret in URLs and logs
2. Build and test queries against `https://sandbox.api.peopledatalabs.com/v5/...` first. It costs no credits and allows five calls a minute
3. Set `size` deliberately on search. Every record returned costs one credit, and responses over 1 MB fail
4. Treat `404` on enrichment as no match, not an error, and `402` as credits exhausted. Neither is worth a retry
5. On `429`, wait until the `x-ratelimit-reset` time. Limits are fixed-window per key and per endpoint

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Apollo API + MCP or People Data Labs?

People Data Labs and Apollo API + MCP score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 64.2 (B) and 63.3 (B). Apollo API + MCP leads on schema & documentation, security & auth and transparency & trust.

### Do Apollo API + MCP and People Data Labs need an API key?

Apollo API + MCP takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. People Data Labs needs an API key.

### Can an agent call Apollo API + MCP and People Data Labs without installing anything?

Yes. Apollo API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://api.apollo.io/api/v1 and People Data Labs at https://api.peopledatalabs.com/v5.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apollo-vs-people-data-labs.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apollo-vs-people-data-labs.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "apollo", "b": "people-data-labs"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare apollo people-data-labs`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/apollo.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/people-data-labs.json

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